Griffith was best known as the first boxer from the U.S. Virgin Islands to become world champion. His career was soon over overshadowed by the fatal beating he gave Bennie Paret in a 1962.

The shocking outcome left a cloud over the sport for many years. NBC stopped airing boxing broadcasts, and then-New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller created a commission to investigate the bout and the sport. The referee that night, Ruby Goldstein, never worked another fight.

Author Ron Ross wrote a book, “Nine, Ten and Out! The Two Worlds of Emile Griffith,” on Griffith, and had known the fighter since 1963.

The boxer, who headlined Madison Square Garden 23 times, was 75 years old.